I have to go to Cambridge University to give a lecture on the occult. Never spoken to a big group before and am somewhat nervous.

Any advice would be welcomed.

Dragon

You know what they say, picture the crowd naked ;) :hihi:

How did I know that one was coming. I am supposed to be giving a serious lecture not wetting myself laughing.

I will have a long drive down there and then a lecture to give to a load of pagans and although it is all expenses paid - I dunno how to cope with a room of complete strangers.

Imagining them all without their clothes on is really not going to help that much.

Mind you - when I recently visited the CPN the thought did cross my mind resulting in them kicking me out telling me they had mentally ill people to sort out.

Dragon

Hi Dragon,

why not practice on us :D

After all your speaking to loads of people on here and we're all naked :heyhey:

Okay then -

Good evening lads and lasses. Nice warm welcome from you lot I see. Now - the creation of talismans and Kamea is not a subject that carries with it the naked truth. All the ups and downs that go with it are fundamental to the heave ho of the creation of life ....

Ermmmmm

Thanks

Dragon

:clap: :clap: :clap:

That'll fill an hour easily.


Its in the bag

Trouble is that I will then have to squash a three hour lecture into less than a hour.

I hope this is a two night course.

Should be fun but I am more than a little nevcous. Any more advice?

Dragon

Can't you do something radical like get them to workshop something, that can kill an hour.

Workshop- what a cheesy creation but great for time wasting

Originally posted by Dragon
Trouble is that I will then have to squash a three hour lecture into less than a hour.

I hope this is a two night course.

Should be fun but I am more than a little nevcous. Any more advice?

Dragon

Have some dutch currage maybe? then again, don't want to slur in your speech ;)

I shall be taking work sheets for them to follow and experiment with. Since the lessons that were given to the local group here in sheffield things have moved on quite a lot and the old notes were so full of inaccuracies it makes me laugh to think I actually used them.

Still - they say there is a time and a place for everything.

I still have to divide time for this lecture and hitting markets and fairs with getting my new occult site online so I shall do the best I can. It is through having this heavy workload that I was hoping for a bit of advice on how to gear myself up for handling a room full of complete strangers.

Dragon

Dragon - you know the answer -

P.M.A

You have done this thing before, just because its down Cambridge way doesnt make it any different.

You know your stuff, so do your thing. Remember the worst that can happen is that you get something the wrong way around or miss a bit. Who's to know?? Not them.

The people attending want to hear you so will not be giving you a hard time.

P.M.A :thumbsup:

Thanks fox.

See - all I needed was a little encouragement and confidence building.

How much do I owe you for that then?

Dragon

Yr welcome, first consultation is always on the house.

:D

I just have to figure out how to get down off this roof now.

But seriously - talking to people you know is completely different to talking to strangers. When I did this in training I lost the thread completely and started talking about some rubbish or other whilst I should have been talking about computer presentations (I was training on a computer course).

If people start throwing their knickers at me I shall not know what to do.

Dragon

From years of public speaking in a sales job, I think that the most useful tip is to speak to your audience as if you're reading a story to a group of young children. Speak clearly and slowly, a lot more slowly than you think that you need to, and animate your voice and facial expressions.

Try to make eye contact with everybody every couple of minutes and keep prompt cards down to a few words written very clearly to allow eye contact to be number one.

Whatever you are saying, it will come out much better if you make it into a story and present yourself to your audience properly.

It sounds like you know your subject, so the job at hand is to make your lecture interesting, and one of the best ways to do that is to sound interested in your own lecture.

Good luck- actually no, no luck is needed. GO FOR IT!

Dragon, you've got to practice. Then practice some more. And then some more! It will make you more confident of the content of your talk and also give you a really good idea of how long it will take you to deliver it. I know it's not the same practicing in front of people you know, but sometimes it can actually be worse - after all you probably don't need to see the people from Cambridge again!

Easier said than done, but try and enjoy it - take confidence in your knowledge of the subject matter.

Good luck!

Originally posted by Dragon
Trouble is that I will then have to squash a three hour lecture into less than a hour.

I hope this is a two night course.

Should be fun but I am more than a little nevcous. Any more advice?

Dragon

I had to give an impromptu talk to a group of educators some from university recently.

A good start for me was asking everyone their name and interest etc. It gives you a picture of where to aim your talk.

I'm quite interested in your lecture about the occult as it is kind of in my area of work (occult in the true sense, not the modern meaning). can i have a taster?

Although I am interested in all branches of the occult I have spent a great deal of time learning particular areas, especially ones that are not readily available to the general researcher.

This lecture will be about the Kamea, seals and sigils; and the introductionof Talismanic magik, including the use of symbols to represent cause and effect upon events surrounding an individual in order to bring about a desired effect upon that person.

For too long there has been hocus pocus mixed in with the ritual of magik, and it is about time someone took all the bunkum and threw it in the bin, so leaving a way open for those who are truly interested in teh craft to utilise what is available in order to do their job properly.

Dragon

dress as Crowley. Breaks the ice a bit!

I've always been told that when performing in front of a crowd you should always pick someone out and focus on them.

Have you researched occult science?

I think thats what a medium or clairvoyant does, and generally when they have inside information about their subject.

How do you dress up as Crowley? You mean I have to wear a silly hat with a triangle on the front containing the picture of an eye?

Anyhow - I am not ugly enough for that. I hope there is a mike cos I am very soft spoken.

Dragon

Dragon,

Most of the people attending the lecture will be there to hear your views, they are interested in what you have to say. Just be yourself and the natural charm will shine through.

It's been said the best lecturer will make eye contact with everyone in the room at least once however if you feel nervous, it's best to find a few faces you like to look at and aim your lecture towards them.

If you have a set of slides, it's best to have a lot of pictures/diagrams and very few words.

:)

When is it and how much spare time do you have to prepare for it?

The Speaker Studio (http://speakerstudio.co.uk) has useful tips on preparing for important presentations which you could check out if you wanted. I did a one-off course with them for a very important presentation which certainly helped me to clarify the core issues I wanted to get across.

Even if you know your subject inside out it is easy to present side issues as if they are the main issue which is important want to avoid.

It is worth sitting down with paper and pen to identify the 3 or 4 key ideas you want your audience to take away with them and ensure everything you say is geared to those 3 or 4 ideas. It is likely to be something like a spidergram which will have lots of sub ideas developing out of several main ideas.

It will then be easier to identify sub topics to see where and how the main presentation will flow to be an informative, entertaining and inspiring talk.

Practice makes perfect. ALL good performers practice and have a few appropriately inoffensive jokes up their sleeve. If you have anyone can help you rehearse it that will be really grand.

Good luck and am sure you'll do extremely well.

Originally posted by spicey
Just be yourself and the natural charm will shine through.



:)

What natural charm is that? Have I missed something?:D

Dont try to cover too much in one lecture, they'll only take away 15% of what you tell them, so I read somewhere. Visual aids help break up a lecture. OHPs with the structure of the lecture on may help. Do an intro which is a brief summary of what you will cover, do your lecture, then do a summary. This is what I was taught at uni. and is a technique I used in teaching. A funny story makes a lecture memorable.

I still remember a uni lecture from over 10 years ago on sequences of behaviour, in which the lecturer related the antics of a date with a girl in the back of his dad's cortina!

Thanks for the cloudybay. I think you are sweet too .... not.

Thanks for the help the rest of you. I shall take your words on board and hopefully not make a fool of myself.

Dragon

I'm lecturing at uni sometime, in Sheffield.

It has been difficult, especially the first times, considering that english is not my native language and sometime I couldn't find the words or the students couldn't understand me...

The suggestion I could give you are:

As Medusa666 said, speak a lot more slowly than you think that you need to, and animate your voice and facial expressions...when presenting the first time to a conference I found myself finishing 10 minutes earlier than I thought because I rushed through the slides...

Do you have slides? I always think they help in giving the lecture, because they give people a visual reference and they can follow better what you say

If you don't have slides, print out an outline of your presentation or of what you want to say, to be sure you mention the fundamental points

I always use to follow the classical method brief summary of what you will cover, do your lecture, then do a summary.

In the "lecture part" I always try to follow some structure like

present your key points
try to prove or argument them
present the results - draw conclusions


Good luck, I'm sure you will be brilliant!!!!:clap:

Dragon, you should reherse and practice what you're gonna do/say on another test group, before the actual event.

During the lecture, try the 10'oclock method:

1) Tell them what you're going to tell them (outline).
2) Tell them.
3) Tell them what you just told them (recap).

Use humor, wear a pointy hat and carry a broomstick. Hmmm, on second thoughts, ignore that idea.

Have fun with it!!